Page One

East Bay residents should be on the lookout for suspects posing as water department workers after an official truck was stolen from the East Bay Municipal Utility District last week, the district announced today.

The maintenance truck -- identified as EBMUD vehicle No. 896 -- was a white 2008 F-350 with a California license plate No. 1285077, according to EBMUD.

The vehicle - which contained an official EBMUD work badge, hard hat, safety vest and tools -- was stolen on Thursday and was later spotted near Redwood Christian Church in Castro Valley on Saturday, according to EBMUD.

Utility district officials warned East Bay residents to be on the lookout for the stolen truck, and to be aware of suspects possibly posing as utility workers in residential neighborhoods.

EBMUD said that utility workers making repairs to water lines do not normally ask to enter homes, but might knock on doors to notify residents of temporary water outages.

Residents should ask to see workers' identification and ask the purpose of their visit.